Design Aware System, Method and Computer Program Product for Detecting Overlay-Related Defects in Multi-Patterned Fabricated Devices

1. A method, comprising: receiving, by at least one computer system, a design of a multi-patterned fabricated device; automatically determining from the design, by the at least one computer system, one or more areas of the design that are prone to causing overlay errors, wherein the automatic determination of the one or more areas of the design that are prone to causing overlay errors is further based on one or more predefined rules; outputting, by the at least one computer system, an indication of the determined one or more areas to an inspection system for use in inspecting a multi-patterned device fabricated in accordance with the design; receiving, by the inspection system from the at least one computer system, the indication of the determined one or more areas; in response to receipt of the indication of the determined one or more areas, inspecting, by the inspection system, the determined one or more areas of the multi-patterned device for defects by: a light source of the inspection system directing light towards the one or more areas of the multi-patterned device, a detector of the inspection system receiving light reflected from the one or more areas of the multi-patterned device and generating output responsive to the received light, and providing the output to the at least one computer system; receiving, by the at least one computer system, the output; and processing, by the at least one computer system, the output to detect defects in the multi-patterned device.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the multi-patterned device is a wafer.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the design of the multi-patterned fabricated device includes a plurality of masks for a single layer of the multi-patterned fabricated device.

4. The method of claim 3 , further comprising receiving, by the computer system, input from a user specifying two of the masks, wherein the automatic determination of the one or more areas of the design that are prone to causing overlay errors includes evaluating the two masks to determine the one or more areas of the design that are prone to causing overlay errors.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein evaluating the two masks includes determining whether a threshold separation exists between the two masks.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein each the one or more areas of the design are automatically determined to be prone to causing overlay errors as a result of having less than the threshold separation.

7. The method of claim 3 , wherein the automatic determination of the one or more areas of the design that are prone to causing overlay errors includes, by default, evaluating all of the masks to determine the one or more areas of the design that are prone to causing overlay errors.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein evaluating all of the masks includes determining whether a threshold separation exists between adjacent masks.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein each the one or more areas of the design are automatically determined to be prone to causing overlay errors as a result of having less than the threshold separation.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more predefined rules each define a parameter value indicative of causing overlay errors.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the parameter value includes a threshold distance between two masks for a single layer of the multi-patterned fabricated device.

12. The method of claim 10 , wherein the parameter value includes a threshold pattern density for a mask of a single layer of the multi-patterned fabricated device.

13. The method of claim 1 , further comprising ranking each of the one or more areas of the design that are prone to causing overlay errors.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein ranking each of the one or more areas of the design that are prone to causing overlay errors includes: determining a parameter value of the area which caused the area to be determined as prone to causing an overlay error; identifying a plurality of incremental ranges based on a preconfigured step size, wherein each of the incremental ranges is associated with a different rank indicative of a different level of likelihood of causing overlay errors; determining one of the incremental ranges that includes the parameter value of the area; and assigning the area with the rank associated with the one of the incremental ranges determined for the area.

15. The method of claim 14 , further comprising outputting a result of the ranking to the inspection system for use in prioritizing inspection of the one or more areas on the multi-patterned device fabricated in accordance with the design.

16. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing computer code executable by a processor to perform a method comprising: receiving, by at least one computer system, a design of a multi-patterned fabricated device; automatically determining from the design, by the at least one computer system, one or more areas of the design that are prone to causing overlay errors, wherein the automatic determination of the one or more areas of the design that are prone to causing overlay errors is further based on one or more predefined rules; outputting, by the at least one computer system, an indication of the determined one or more areas to an inspection system for use in inspecting a multi-patterned device fabricated in accordance with the design; causing, by the at least one computer system, the inspection system to: receive, from the at least one computer system, the indication of the determined one or more areas; in response to receipt of the indication of the determined one or more areas, inspect the determined one or more areas of the multi-patterned device for defects by: a light source of the inspection system directing light towards the one or more areas of the multi-patterned device, a detector of the inspection system receiving light reflected from the one or more areas of the multi-patterned device and generating output responsive to the received light, and providing the output to the at least one computer system; receiving, by the at least one computer system, the output; and processing, by the at least one computer system, the output to detect defects in the multi-patterned device.

17. A system, comprising: at least one computer sub-system having a memory, and a processor for: receiving a design of a multi-patterned fabricated device; automatically determining from the design one or more areas of the design that are prone to causing overlay errors, wherein the automatic determination of the one or more areas of the design that are prone to causing overlay errors is further based on one or more predefined rules; outputting an indication of the determined one or more areas to an inspection sub-system for use in inspecting a multi-patterned device fabricated in accordance with the design; and the inspection sub-system having a light source and a detector, the inspection sub-system for: receiving, from the at least one computer sub-system, the indication of the determined one or more areas; in response to receipt of the indication of the determined one or more areas, inspecting the determined one or more areas of the multi-patterned device for defects by: the light source of the inspection sub-system directing light towards the one or more areas of the multi-patterned device, the detector of the inspection sub-system receiving light reflected from the one or more areas of the multi-patterned device and generating output responsive to the received light, and providing the output to the at least one computer sub-system; the at least one computer sub-system further for: receiving the output; and processing the output to detect defects in the multi-patterned device.

18. The system of claim 17 , wherein the memory stores a script executable by the processor for performing the receiving, automatically determining, and the outputting.

19. The system of claim 17 , wherein the inspection sub-system and the computer sub-system are in communication via transmission medium.